The End
by girlofshadows
Summary: Kitt returns to the Foundation almost completely destroyed. Is this the end?
1. Chapter 1

The wreck that was once Kitt had been towed back to the Foundation. If Bonnie had to have guessed the likelihood of repair she would have said that it was impossible. She would have been right. The team spent hours trying to bring Kitt back online, but there wasn't enough left. The CPU casing was nothing more than a twisted mess, and the circuitry within looked like it was completely beyond repair. It was almost impossible to tell what it had once been. Bonnie had given up after two days. There was nothing more she could do except break the news to Michael.

He hadn't spoken to anyone since the day Kitt had been brought in. He knew that what happened to Kitt was his fault. If only he had listened to Kitt. If only he had stopped to think, just for a second. Bonnie knocked on the door, and Michael opened it. "Has Kitt been repaired?" Michael asked immediately. I paused, unsure of how to approach the topic if Kitt's demise.

"All of us tried everything we could… but he's gone," Bonnie told him, tears starting to fall as the reality of this had set in. "I'm sorry," she said. Michael didn't say anything, but Bonnie could tell that what she had told him had hit him hard. She backed slowly away from the door and headed back to the garage.

* * *

Michael threw himself into the chair in the corner of the room. He felt his eyes start to swim with tears. Kitt had been a close friend, someone to talk to, someone he knew he could trust with his life… and now he was gone. Nothing could change the fact that Kitt was gone.

At some point in the future, Michael knew that the Foundation would consider building a new AI. Many thought Kitt was replaceable. That getting another one would make everything go back to normal. Like getting a new watch.

The comlink was still in its usual place on his wrist, only he could no longer talk to Kitt through it. Now it was a useless reminder of what had been.

* * *

Bonnie was back in the garage, staring at the remains of Kitt like she could bring him back through willpower alone. She had stopped crying a while ago, and now was just numb. One of the technicians tapped Bonnie on the shoulder and she looked up. "There's one thing we haven't tried yet," they said to Bonnie.  
"Well let's do it!" Bonnie replied, jumping up.

Together they attached wires underneath the hood. As soon as that was done, the technician flicked a switch on the wall. For a second nothing happened. Then the scanner light flickered once, before going out again. "No!" Bonnie shouted. "Kitt. Please wake up." The deafening silence that answered shattered her last hope shattered like a dropped glass, and she was once again in tears.  
"Bo…nnie," a voice that sounded like Kitt said, only it couldn't have been. "I… can…not 'wake… up', ho… we… ver my sy… stems are on… line despite… the damage." It was Kitt. There was no mistaking it.  
"We thought you were gone," Bonnie told him.  
"So… did… I," Kitt replied.

 **AN: I hope you like the story. :-)**


	2. Chapter 2

Kitt's recovery was slow. Painstakingly so. Every progressive step forwards was met with a multitude of other problems which needed to be addressed. If there was no factor of sentimentality involved, then they would have given up days ago. Fortunately for Kitt, each and every person there cared for him, and was willing to do anything to improve his current state.

"How is he?" Michael questioned for the millionth time that day. Kitt was grateful for his concern, however Bonnie found it distracting.  
"He's exactly as I said earlier. He's improving slowly, but still has a long way to go, now if you'll excuse me, I'm needed elsewhere." She walked off and set to work on Kitt, effectively preventing Michael from pestering her anymore.

Michael was frustrated with his lack of ability to help. He truly wanted to help the AI he had come to consider a friend, but had completely insufficient knowledge of computer systems, preventing him from being of any help towards the recovery effort. He knew his constant inquiries to Bonnie were more of a hindrance than anything, but he couldn't bring himself to stop. He needed to feel as though he was in some way helping.

"Kitt? How's it going buddy?" Michael asked.  
"My systems are gradually being repaired, and I will soon be fully functional," Kitt replied, answering the question with almost the same way that Bonnie had. Michael paused for a moment to think. Kitt had only talked about the car. Michael had gradually come to realise the distinction that Kitt often refused to admit, but it was there. Kitt had a personality, and the last comment didn't even portray a hint of his personality.

Michael walked over to Kitt, and climbed inside the Trans-Am, closing the door behind him. He addressed his next question to the voice modulator. "How's it really going?"  
"As I said, my systems are gradually being repaired," Kitt replied monotonously.  
"You know that's not what I meant," Michael said simply. He knew that something was wrong and was not about to give up on finding out what it was. He knew that the best solution would be for Kitt to talk, but that was the problem. For Kitt, talking about emotions would be the last thing that he would openly express, often being in favour of informing anyone who asked that he was a computer, and couldn't have emotions.

"Well, what did you mean?" Kitt replied after a moment.  
"How are you doing? Not the car, not your systems… How are you?" Michael questioned.  
"Michael, I'm a computer. How I'm doing is defined by the functionality of my systems.  
"You know you're not just a computer…" Michael began.  
"I am a computer. You're giving me human attributes, but at the end of the day, I'm the Knight Industries Two Thousand. I'm just a fancy computer that controls the car."

The conversation continued like this for the next few hours, until eventually, Michael fell asleep. Bonnie smiled to herself. Michael was one of the closest people to Kitt and was helping Kitt's recovery in his own way. Unlike the technician busily working on repairs, Michael was Kitt's emotional support, not that Kitt would ever admit it.

 **AN: What do you think? What can I improve? Let me know by writing a review. :-)**


	3. Chapter 3

Within the next week, Kitt was fully repaired, and no new problems arose as his systems were tested. As far as anyone could tell, Kitt had made a full recovery, at least, concerning technical recovery. Emotionally, nobody could be quite certain. The AI kept anything that made him more human that he was programmed to be carefully concealed, at least that's what Kitt thought. The closest to him knew that something wasn't quite right. Kitt wasn't expressing his personality as much as he used to. There were no sarcastic comments, no complaints about music, no opinions at all, and that was extremely concerning.

 _"Would you mind doing another lap of the track Kitt?" Bonnie asked. Kitt didn't answer choosing instead to drive to the starting line. On the count of three Kitt was off, racing around tight corners at breakneck speed, completing the circuit in record time. "Thank you, Kitt," Bonnie said._  
 _"Are any other tests required today?" Kitt asked._  
 _"Not today, Kitt," she replied. Not a moment after she had spoken, Kitt drove off, slowly heading back to the garage, without any further comment. No hint of a comment about the needlessly repetitive nature of the tests._

The real problems started after the testing had finished, and Kitt was required to leave the Foundation's property. Any attempts to get Kitt to go on missions were met with vehement protests.

 _"You up for a mission, pal?" Michael asked._

 _"Why?" was the blunt reply._  
 _"Well, the files are stacking up, and we have to get things back to normal at some point…"_  
 _"But that doesn't have to be right now!" Kitt interrupted._  
 _"No, but I thought it would be a good idea, and besides, I would've thought you'd be bored out of your mind by now."_  
 _"I'm a computer. I have no concept of boredom," he replied monotonously, the humanity that used to be evident replaced by the cold voice of a machine._  
 _"You're more than a computer. We all know that," Michael said. There was no response. Just the steady rate of the scanner pacing back and forth._

"I wish you'd let me help you," Michael addressed Kitt, attempting to start a conversation. Kitt had been unwilling to talk so far, but he kept trying. "You know, a problem shared is a problem halved…" he tried.

"I have no problem to share," Kitt replied quickly, hoping to kill the conversation before it really started.  
"We know that's not true, Kitt," Bonnie replied, her voice full of concern for the stubborn AI.  
"The test results showed that there was no issue with my systems," Kitt stated simply.  
"We're not talking about you're systems, Kitt. We're talking about you!" Michael shouted, completely exasperated by Kitt's persistence that there was nothing wrong. The sound echoed across the garage, bringing with it a deadly silence. Kitt's scanner light slowed to a sluggish crawl, before the warm light faded into nothingness.

"Kitt?" Bonnie said, voicing the slight panic of every person in the room. The answer Bonnie received was complete and utter silence. Kitt did nothing to acknowledge had he had even heard Bonnie. "Kitt?" she tried again, only to be met with the same answer. Kitt had retreated further into himself, wanting to hide from the world. He didn't want these emotions that he had, that he, as far as his programming was concerned, shouldn't have. He didn't want to admit the persistence of these emotions which threatened to overwhelm him at any moment. Above all, he didn't want to talk about it, for fear that it would make his feelings more real.


	4. Chapter 4

Bonnie arrived in the garage early the next morning, as she usually did, only to find that Kitt was gone. The only sign of his presence here was the broken remains of the door which he must have driven through to leave. "No, no, no," she muttered. Bonnie ran outside. "Kitt!" she shouted, the sound of her voice echoed around breaking what was almost a deadly silence, but there was no response. There was nobody around to hear her, least of all Kitt, who by now could have been on the other side of the country.

Her first course of action was to check to see if Kitt's homing beacon was active, only to quickly find that it wasn't. One method after another was attempted, and each one failed, shedding no light on the missing AI's whereabouts, but Bonnie refused to admit that there was nothing she could do, and, because of that, she was still typing away at the computer when Michael arrived hours later.  
"What happened?" Michael asked, only to receive the sound of hurried typing as a response. "Where's Kitt?" Michael tried again. "Bonnie?"  
"I don't know!" Bonnie exclaimed. "I've been trying to find him, but I haven't had any luck…"  
"How long has he been gone?"  
"Hours… he was gone when I arrived this morning, and his homing beacon was inactive, so I've had no luck finding him," Bonnie resumed typing again, needing to keep busy.

The only sound that could be heard was the constant clatter of the keyboard as Bonnie typed. This continued for a few moments. "This is useless," Bonnie said at the exact moment that Michael said  
"I know where he is."  
"Where?" Bonnie asked, but received no answer, as Michael was already out of the door and running like his life depended on it.

* * *

Kitt knew that it was only a matter of time before they found him. Michael and Bonnie knew him too well for him to be able to hide for a substantial amount of time but that didn't matter, for Kitt didn't want to hide, he wanted to think. He needed to fully process what he had learned from his research. He needed to understand.

The snapping of a twig quickly informed Kitt of the approach of someone, and a quick scan told him that the person in question was Michael. "Kitt," Michael said, and in response, Kitt opened the driver's side door. Concerned for his friend, Michael climbed in and closed the door behind him. "What's wrong Kitt?" Michael asked. There was again no verbal response, and Michael didn't expect one at that time. "I'm sorry for shouting at you Kitt…" he tried. "I just… I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong. I know that you dislike showing that you've developed beyond your programming, but…" Michael stopped talking as one of the screens on the dashboard switched on. It displayed a news article, the headline reading 'Will Artificial Intelligence be the cause of Armageddon?' Just as Michael had begun to read this, the second screen came to life, this one playing a muted video of the attack on Kitt which had almost destroyed him.


End file.
